15. IDENTITY AND IRONY. MARTIAL'S TENTH BOOK, HORACE, AND THE TRADITION OF ROMAN SATIRE Elena Merli Although Martial strongly invokes the Latin epigrammatic tradition in his poetological statements-and thus in part actually constitutes this tradition-the intertextual references in his poetry point far beyond the genre of epigram. In his monograph on Martial, John Sullivan briefly discusses the role of satire and elegy in his view our poet's most important intertextual points of reference. According to Sullivan, Martial takes from satire his critical view of society and human behav­ ior, and from elegy especially the element of self-representation. Even prior to Sullivan, of course, the question of Martial's relationship to satire was posed frequently, and the answers focused on the humorous and mimic elements; on the poet's description of "types" such as the parvenu, the hypocrite and the legacy-hunter; and on his criticism of Roman society and the system of clientela. 1 To my mind, the limitation of this approach consists in the diffi­ culty of adequately defining the object "satire". Scholarship has too often abstained from seeking precise, concrete lines and tendencies of development in this genre, and done so in good conscience on the grounds of satire's intrinsic uarietas? As far as our topic is concerned, this fact has led to a kind of optical illusion: the relationship between Martial and Juvenal has moved to center stage, while Martial's much broader and more nuanced relationship to the various forms and stages of the satirical tradition has receded into the background. Martial's epigrams do, in fact, draw strongly on satire. In this pa­ per, I would like to attempt in particular to demonstrate the existence of a privileged relationship between Martial and Horace's works in hexameters. The most interesting and specific elements connecting Horace and Martial are not, however, primarily of a humorous or mimic character. The significant, if not exclusive attention that schol- 1 Sullivan 1991, 103-6,259-65. See also Mendell 1922; Duff 1937,127-46; Sze­ les~ 1963; Laurens 1989,229-51 and passim. However, see Freudenburg 2001. 258 ELENAMERLI IDENTITY AND IRONY 259 ars have devoted to these aspects appears to be the result of Juvenal's I. The poet and the countryside presence obstructing the view: his satire together with the so-called satirical epigram of Lucillius have been simply projected backwards, Martial's tenth book of Epigrams, which has come down to us only in thus creating the lens through which the relationship between Martial a revised second version, is the last book the poet wrote in Rome. The and Horace's sermo is generally viewed. choice of topics is strongly determined by his imminent return to Two premises. The first: a highly relevant text of Horace's for Mar­ Spain: seven epigrams deal with the return, and six either address tial, his second epode, will be left aside completely here as it does not friends who themselves are about to depart for vacation or embark on hold a place in the satirical tradition, despite showing strong corre­ long journeys, or praise peaceful, pleasant country estates and seaside 4 spondences with this tradition in terms of both themes and narrative residences. technique. Furthermore, the persona loquens in the second epode is Many more epigrams than in the previous books are devoted to this "the usurer Alphius", while in the hexametric texts that we will be richly complex, but in itself coherent topic. Up to this point, for ex­ examining, it is "the poet Horace". In other words, in the satires the ample, only two epigrams dealt with the poet's Iberian homeland situation is expressed through the poet's "I", while in the epode it is 0.49, 4.55) except for brief allusions in other contexts. conveyed through an "other voice"-an important distinction for the The quantitative aspect is not, however, the most relevant differ­ rest of my analysis. ence between the tenth book and the earlier books in the constitution The second premise: in the following, I will deal with the subject of of the city/country or Rome/province antithesis. The descriptions of Horace's sermo-that is, his Satires and Epistles-without distin­ vacation spots and references to stays outside Rome merge here with guishing sharply between these groups of works. Classifying the two the deep, unmistakable expression of weariness and the desire to flee as belonging to one and the same genre would of course be going too from the uita occupata of the capital city. In epigram 12, for example, s far, but nevertheless, with Horace, the Satires and Epistles are parts of the poet addresses Domitius Apollinaris who is just departing for an organic poetic development.3 It is important that the later satirists Vercelli, and urges him to soak up the sun there to reap the envy of the recognized a lata sensu satirical potential in Horace's Epistles and that pallida turba of city-dwellers upon his return. His bronzed skin will they made use of it in their own work: recall here Persius 6, which soon fade, however, robbed of its hue by Rome: begins as an epistle; or the relationship of Juvenal II to Horace Ep. I precor et totos auida cute conbibe soles­ 1.5 (to Torquatus). Among modem authors, an example is Ludovico o quam formonsus, dum peregrinus eris! Ariosto, whose satires have the form and character of a letter. Et uenies albis non adgnoscendus amicis What I would like to discuss here deals with the relationship be­ liuebitque tuis pallida turba genis. 10 Sed uia quem dederit rapiet cito Roma colorem, tween Horace and Martial as constituted in the tenth book of Epi­ Niliaco redeas tu licet are niger. grams, and especially with two closely related topics: the motif of the (Mart. 10.12.6-12) countryside and places distant from Rome on the one hand, and the Go, I beg, and let your greedy hide drink sunshine in full measure. How depiction of chaotic life in the city on the other. The considerations handsome you will be, so long as you stay abroad! And you will come that I put forward here can in no way deal exhaustively with the topic back unrecognizable to your whey-faced friends; the pallid throng will of Martial's relationship to Horace's hexameter poems: rather, I hope to contribute one piece to a mosaic that will slowly grow, change and take shape over time. 4 Return home: 13,37,78,92,96, 103, 104. Friends who are leaving, and uillae: 12, 30,44, 51, 58, 78; see also 93. A list of epigrams in the tenth book that are not set in the city can be found in Spisak 2001-2; the situation of Martial "between home and Rome" is touched on by Fearnley 2003. 3 According to Fraenkel 1957, 310. S On the identification, see Nauta 2002a, 159-61 and 2005, 222-7. 260 ELENAMERLI IDENTITY AND IRONY 261 envy your cheeks. But Rome will soon rob you of the color the road has (25).9 This kind of praise does not playa central role in the epigrams 6 given, though you return black-faced as a son of Nile. in the tenth book to country estates and seaside uillae, with the minor In epigram 30, the elegant description of Apollinaris' uilla begins with exception of the definition of a uilla in Anxur as a litoranea domus in the observation that the owner seeks respite from the stress of Rome: a epigram 58. remark that is otherwise nowhere to be found in praises of patrons' From my discussion the conclusion emerges that in the tenth book uillae in the writings of either Martial or Statius. The choice of words Martial transfers to his friends and patrons viewpoints and considera­ in verses 1--4 describes the burdens of city life from whose cares fes­ tions that apply to his own situation as constituted and portrayed sus Apollinaris literally takes flight: within the text. See, for example, epigram 58: o temperatae dulce Formiae litus, ... nunc nos maxima Roma terit. UOS, cum seueri fugit oppidum Martis Hic mihi quando dies me us est? Iactamur in alto et inquietas fessus exuit curas, urbis, et in sterili uita labore perit. Apollinaris omnibus locis praefert. (Mart. 10.58.6-8) (Mart. 10.30.1-4) ... now mightiest Rome wears us out. When do I have a day to call my Temperate Formiae, sweet shore! When Apollinaris flees stern Mars' own here? I am tossed in the city's ocean and life goes to waste in fruit­ town and in weariness puts restless cares aside, he prefers you to all less toil. other places. (The uilla of Frontinus in Anxur represents the positive pole here.) Epigram 51 can be mentioned in this context as well: life in the capi­ The contrast between city and country is also emphasized in epigram tal, as glamorous as it may be, holds no attraction for the lassus 96, and evoked indirectly by the copresence of several other passages Faustinus, who yearns for the calm of his uilla in Anxur.7 The two devoted exclusively to Martial's Spanish homeland (13, 103, 104), most detailed descriptions of uillae in the previous books (those of and epigrams in which he expresses in bitter, direct terms his weari­ Faustinus in Baiae, 3.58, and of Iulius Martialis on the Ianiculum, ness of the numerous, pointless obligations of clientela and his ex­ 4.64) do not contain any such passages: Faustinus' uilla is not op­ haustion with chaotic city life (see especially epigrams 70 and 74).